Every Waking Hour by Joanna Schaffhausen

The fourth book in Joanna Schaffhausen's heartpounding Ellery Hathaway mystery series, Every Waking Hour...

After surviving a serial killer’s abduction as a young teenager, Ellery Hathaway is finally attempting a normal life. She has a new job as a rookie Boston detective and a fledgling relationship with Reed Markham, the FBI agent who rescued her years ago. But when a twelve-year-old girl disappears on Ellery’s watch, the troubling case opens deep wounds that never fully healed.

Chloe Lockhart walked away from a busy street fair and vanished into the crowd. Maybe she was fleeing the suffocating surveillance her parents put on her from the time she was born, or maybe the evil from her parents’ past finally caught up to her. For Chloe, as Ellery learns, is not the first child Teresa Lockhart has lost.

Ellery knows what it’s like to have the past stalk you, to hold your breath around every corner. Sending one kidnapped girl to find another could be Chloe’s only hope or an unmitigated disaster that dooms them both. Ellery must untangle the labyrinth of secrets inside the Lockhart household—secrets that have already murdered one child. Each second that ticks by reminds her of her own lost hours, how close she came to death, and how near it still remains.

Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Ellery Hathaway series!
For book one, The Vanishing Season, click HERE.
For book two, No Mercy, click HERE.
For book three, All the Best Lies, click HERE.

 

 

Book 4
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
M/F Thriller
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

Ellery survived a serial killer when she was younger and it's shaped her past and present. Now a Boston detective, she knows how to solve crimes and get results. Because of her past, she prefers her solitude. However, she is in a relationship now, with her rescuer, and he brings with him a whole different dynamic.

Reed knows that he is good at his job. He also loves his daughter. He is trying to learn to juggle his demanding career with raising his daughter and co-parenting with his ex-wife. While visiting Ellery, his daughter, Tula, and Ellery are slowly getting to know each other. What they weren't expecting was to be embroiled in a kidnapping.

The family of Chloe is beside themselves. Not a stranger to heartbreak and trauma, Chloe's parents don't know why their family is being targeted again for tragedy. This mystery will leave you on the edge of your seat. In reality, there are two mysteries to solve and it was fun watching them unfold, intertwine, and resolve.

You won't be disappointed with this mystery and despite the relationship between Ellery and Reed in constant flux, you won't be disappointed in their story either. I think that both are trying to do what's best for the other and sometimes that doesn't align.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
Ellery’s first big case as a Boston Police detective sees her tracking down a missing child. Elements of the case are very similar to Ellery’s own abduction as a child and Ellery has to fight to stay professional – and stay in the present – as she tracks down the missing girl.

This is easily the best book in the series so far. The writing is excellent. The complicated, twisting plot has been exactingly crafted. I loved every twist, turn, and dead end in Ellery’s investigation and I love the way the author builds almost painful tension as time runs out for the missing child.

Ellery feels functional and competent for most of this story. I feel like I was meeting her fresh this time. For the first time, she is almost likeable and almost relatable. Her relationship with Reed is an unsteady constant and this book sees them mixing families and lives more than ever before. I love Ellery’s sister and I even enjoyed Reed’s daughter here.

This new angle – Ellery as a detective – really works for the series. Ellery is easier to engage with in this role. Her past trauma is still an enormous part of her life, but here we see Ellery use her experience to be a strong cop. She feels more of Reed’s equal here and they almost make sense as they live and work together.

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to more in the series.

 

 

JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN wields a mean scalpel, skills developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain—how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter. The Vanishing Season is her first novel.

Connect with Joanna

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Every Waking Hour (Ellery Hathaway #4) by Joanna Schaffhausen to read and review.